A “SEXUAL incident” between a staff member and a patient on a Hereford psychiatric ward was one of several concerns about “sexual safety” according to a recent report by the health watchdog.

The inspection of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) took place in 2023.

The CQC report said that there had been a “sexual incident” between a staff member and a patient on the Mortimer ward at the Stonebow Unit in Hereford, which provides services to people with mental health issues.

The incident was reported to have taken place between August 14, 2022, and January 26, 2023.

The CQC said: “Data provided by the trust between August 14, 2022, and January 26, 2023, for Mortimer ward showed there had been four sexual incidents with three patient-on-patient incidents and one involved one patient and staff member.”

As a result of the inspection, the trust has been rated as “requires improvement” by the CQC.

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A spokesperson for the trust said: "The CQC conducted an inspection at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust between February and June 2023. The inspection included a review of four service areas alongside a review of the well-led domain.

“We received some feedback from the CQC at the end of the inspection which we used to develop a comprehensive improvement plan.

“The board is taking the feedback very seriously and recognises some improvements are needed. We are absolutely committed to the improvements in the areas highlighted and made significant progress since the inspection and will continue to prioritise this.

“We are pleased that the CQC have noted that staff treated patients with kindness and compassion. They also recognised the improvements in our mental health wards and community services following their previous inspections.

“Our staff and our patients remain our top priority as we continue improvement work.”